Freedom is a universal concept. But what if radicals in the name of Allah destroy that freedom? When Arabs Danced evokes the recent history of the Muslim world and the effects of the ideological turnaround on an international group of artists. Do they stubbornly continue their own art form, do they fight for their freedom of expression or does self-censorship seep into their work under the pressure of the outside world or their own community? Starting from a personal story, namely his shame at the belly dancing of his mother, filmmaker Jawad Rhalib searches for answers by following different artists during the creation of new work, from Belgian theatre-makers who struggle with Houllebecq’s Submission to a group of young people from the contemporary Egyptian dance scene.